


Room Enough (Barely)

by wanderingflame



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Cuddling and Snuggling, Gen, Multi, Only One Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-23
Updated: 2011-09-23
Packaged: 2017-10-23 23:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/256454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingflame/pseuds/wanderingflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The road to Monteriggioni turns out to be longer than expected, so when Desmond and company stop for the night, they take what lodgings they can.  This leads to some...interesting sleeping arrangements.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Room Enough (Barely)

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for round 3 of the AC Big Bang challenge on Livejournal. The prompt was the trope ["There Is Only One Bed"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereIsOnlyOneBed), and I partnered with [Seisei](http://seisei.deviantart.com/), who drew an incredibly adorable picture for the fic. It is located at the bottom of the LJ post [here](http://ac-bigbang.livejournal.com/14630.html).
> 
> I owe [Everbright](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Everbright/) once again for being my beta and helping me get this fic polished and ready for submitting.

Lucy jerked the wheel to the right, desperately dodging whatever had just darted into the road, only to realize a heartbeat later that whatever she'd seen was only a product of her weariness. The truck swayed as she straightened the wheel, her heart still thudding from the imagined near-miss.

“Whoa!” Lucy glanced over and saw Rebecca looking through the pass-through window of the wall that divided the cab from the back of the truck. She was gripping the edge, clearly having caught herself when Lucy swerved. “Careful, Lucy, we've got valuable equipment back here.”

“And Desmond,” Lucy replied, automatically thinking of the man hooked into that equipment.

“And _me_ ,” Shaun pointed out, then continued in a lower tone, “not like anyone 'round here seems concerned about that.”

Lucy returned her attention to the road to hide an amused smile but Rebecca grinned openly.

“Come on, Shaun, you know we love you,” she called over her shoulder, and received a grumbled response. For a few minutes they drove in silence, Lucy's heartbeat eventually calming, while Rebecca was unusually quiet, both watching the road.

“So how much longer until we stop?” Rebecca finally asked when Lucy rubbed at her eyes with one hand.

“A few more hours, I think,” she replied. Inwardly, Lucy wondered how she was going to last that long. She started when Rebecca laid a hand on her shoulder, glancing away from the road briefly to see the doubtful look her friend was giving her.

“Shouldn't we stop for the night? You've been driving _all day_.”

Lucy chewed on her lip as she considered the question.

After fleeing the warehouse, they had gone straight for the cabin prepared for just such an occasion. Unfortunately, when they arrived they found Abstergo had once again been one step ahead of them. The place was trashed: furniture overturned, shelves pulled out and emptied, windows broken. Abstergo had either been looking for anything of value that may have stashed here or just wrecking it out of spite. Lucy suspected it was partly the latter, since most of the damage was unnecessary if they'd only wanted intel.

They had stopped only briefly, Rebecca waiting with Desmond in the truck while Shaun and Lucy cautiously moved through the cabin, taking in the damage. After that, they headed for the last Assassin safe house in Italy: the Auditore villa in Monteriggioni. However, the trek up to the cabin had cost them time. Now it was nearing dark and they were still hours away, though Lucy hated to admit it. Plus, once they got there, they would still have to unload everything _and_ set-up the Animus...

“Come on, Lucy,” Rebecca said in a softer tone, leaning closer. “We won't get there any faster if you drive off the road, asleep at the wheel. You need to get some sleep; we _all_ do.” She cupped a hand by her mouth, as if preparing to share a secret, but spoke in a loud whisper. “Plus, I think Shaun's getting cabin fever and you know how difficult he is to be around when he's this cranky.”

“You do realize I can still hear you?” Shaun called from the back of the truck, annoyance and exasperation coloring his tone. Lucy glanced over her shoulder to see Rebecca giving her a “See what I mean?” look. Sensing her defeat, Lucy sighed.

“Fine. If you and Shaun can find somewhere close that seems safe, we can stop,” she said.

Rebecca cheered and hurried back to her seat beside Desmond, but not before giving Lucy's shoulder a squeeze. She couldn't help smiling, her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel relaxing as she now had one less worry on her mind. Shaun's fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop as he scoured the maps they had to find someplace suitable. Lucy only hoped they had comfy beds.

When Shaun did find a place—a bed and breakfast in a town just up the road—they pulled over briefly so he could move up to the truck's cabin to give directions more easily.

“You're sure it's safe?” Lucy said as she turned down the road the bed and breakfast was on.

“As safe as anywhere right now,” Shaun replied, a little testily. Lucy belatedly realized she had more or less asked him that same question. Shaun saved her the need to apologize by continuing. “There's a factory at the other end of town, so quite a few trucks pass through every day, sometimes at odd hours. If nothing else, we have that in our favor.” Lucy nodded as she slowed the truck to a stop in front of the building, reassured a little. They both climbed out and while he went around the back to open the door, Lucy stared up at the place.

It was impressive. Three stories high and as wide across as it was deep. The architecture looked to be something straight out of Ezio's time, although the wear of the elements showed on the stone. It was decorated by vines that twined about the columns and red and gold banners that hung from upper floor balconies.

“Wow,” Rebecca said, echoing Lucy's thoughts. Lucy turned to see the group emerging from the rear of the truck. Shaun looked inordinately pleased with his choice, while Desmond seemed a little stunned.

“It's--” He began but cut himself off abruptly, a strange look on his face.

“It's gorgeous 16th century architecture, that's what it is,” Shaun said proudly. “This building has been preserved in as close to its natural state as possible. Even the interior has been kept the same, though I believe they've updated the furniture to modern standards. It may be a bed and breakfast now, but this building was once home to a grand brothel, probably the highlight of the town a few centuries ago. It's been said that many great names in history may have slept beneath this roof. Can you imagine it?”

Lucy glanced again at Desmond, who was nodding as if interested but had his eyes glued to the ground. There was an embarrassed air about him and when he looked up and found Lucy watching him, she thought he might have blushed, though it was hard to tell in the dimly lit driveway. Lucy replayed Shaun's words in her head and “brothel” suddenly seemed to stand out in bold letters.

“It's too bad Ezio didn't know about this place,” Rebecca joked, slapping Desmond on the arm with a grin. “It seems like it would have been right up his alley.” Desmond managed a laugh and a smile, but Lucy was certain she now knew the reason for his discomfort. Not wanting Desmond to be pressured into regaling them with any visits he may be remembering from Ezio's time, Lucy cleared her throat.

“Rebecca, why don't you and I see about getting a room? You guys can unload the bags and move the truck. Sound good?”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Shaun replied, “leave it to us to do all the work.” He was still muttering as he walked back to the truck.

Desmond shot Lucy a look of thanks before turning to follow Shaun, and Lucy felt herself smiling as she and Rebecca headed inside. There was another crisis averted.

***

Waiting had never been one of Shaun's strong points, although he often found himself in that position: waiting for Abstergo to find them, waiting for news from another team, waiting for Desmond—as Ezio—to find the Apple. Despite his grumbling, he was grateful to at least be given a task while he waited. After Desmond helped him get their bags out of the truck, he climbed into the driver's seat and moved the vehicle around behind the building, where it would be out of sight. There was no way to hide it completely, but as he'd repeatedly assured Lucy, this town was far enough off the main roads that they should be safe.

As he made his way back around the front of the building, he came around the corner to see Lucy and Rebecca emerging from the entrance.

“Okay,” Rebecca said, clapping her hands together. “Good news: we got the last room. Bad news: you guys have to find another way in.”

“What? Why?” Shaun said, frowning.

“Well...” She glanced at Lucy and a strange look passed between them. Before Shaun could question it, Rebecca turned back to him and went on. “We said it was just the two of us. We thought it'd be safer, in case someone from Abstergo came by to snoop.”

“What? Wait, hold on a second, where does that leave _us_?”

“There's probably a back door,” Lucy pointed out. “If this place really was a brothel, like you said, they would have had some other door for customers to inconspicuously leave by, right?”

“Nope.”

Everyone turned to look at Desmond, who had answered her. He was walking towards them from the rear of the building, having somehow slipped off without Shaun realizing it.

“It looks like there may have been one but it's been walled up,” he explained, gesturing back the way he'd come. “I just looked.” He gazed up the side of the building. “It shouldn't be too hard to scale this, though. What floor?”

“The top. We got the master suite!”

“Nice!” Desmond and Rebecca shared excited grins as Shaun's patience waned thin.

“I hate to break up the party,” he said in a clipped tone, “but we don't _all_ have the training Desmond has.” A moment of awkward silence followed his words.

“I could carry you,” Desmond finally said and raised his hands defensively when Shaun shot him a glare.

“That is _not_ an option.”

“Maybe it's not as hard as you think,” Lucy said, ever the optimist. “We'll go up and get the balcony door opened while you two see if you can find a way up. If not, we'll figure out something else.” Giving him what she probably thought was an encouraging smile—he'd seen Desmond receive one of those before—Lucy headed inside with Rebecca, who gave them a thumbs up over her shoulder.

For a moment, neither man moved. Shaun glared at the building as though he thought a ladder might appear, aware that Desmond was shifting restlessly beside him.

“I wasn't kidding about carrying you,” Desmond finally spoke up.

“If I'm going to risk my neck climbing this damn building, it's not going to be clinging to you like some bloody barnacle,” Shaun snapped and stalked forward. Best just to get it over with.

Unfortunately, as he approached the wall, he realized just how out of his league he was. Ezio always made it look easy in the footage from the Animus, scaling walls as if every other brick stuck out for him. This wall, however, was built as it should have been: with all the bricks fitting seamlessly. To make matters worse, the first window ledge was at least twice his height up.

His attention was called back to Desmond when the man cleared his throat. Shaun saw he had moved a few feet away and once Desmond saw he had the historian's attention, he pointed to a section of wall farther back.

“It'll be easier over there.”

Shaun scowled but followed grudgingly as Desmond led him to where a bit of heavily overgrown lattice leaned against the building.

It looked ancient, the vines twined about it most likely the only reason it still stood. As he watched Desmond step up to the wall and realized what he intended, it struck Shaun as something one would see in a damned movie, usually where the protagonist ended up on his back after climbing halfway up and then falling. But Desmond pulled himself up fearlessly, and was a good six feet off the ground before he turned to look down at Shaun. Sighing at the general unfairness of his life, Shaun began to climb.

It was tediously slow going and utterly nerve-wracking, especially as they reached the second-story windows and ran out of latticework to climb. Desmond stayed just above him, pointing out the best hand and foot-holds, but halfway up, Shaun began to wonder if his arms would last.

Almost as if the thought had jinxed him, his shoe—not the more suitable sneakers Desmond wore, but smooth-soled dress shoes—slipped off the wedge of brick he had just set it on. There was a half-second where he felt his weight sway away from the wall, his fingers sliding off their hand-holds as his heart leaped into his throat, and then he abruptly realized he wasn't falling to his death—or a future with various broken limbs. He gaped at Desmond, who was somehow holding himself steady with one hand on a window ledge, while his other gripped Shaun's arm.

“Got it?” Desmond asked and it took Shaun a moment to realize what he was asking. He set his foot more carefully on the foot-hold, grabbed again at the bricks under his hands, and swallowed audibly.

“Yeah, sure. Just making sure you were, uh, paying attention,” he said, though his voice sounded shaken even to his own ears. He thought Desmond might make a joke of it, but instead the other man just smiled and released his arm so they could continue climbing. They reached the top floor without another incident, and Desmond helped Shaun over the railing onto the balcony without asking. Shaun hoped his trembling—both from the exertion and the near-fall—weren't too obvious; he tried to cover it by rubbing his sore hands on the front of his slacks.

As they waited for the girls to let them in, Shaun stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried not to think about how they were such obvious targets up here, or how much stronger the breeze was. Sweat from both the climb and the terror of nearly falling made his shirt stick to his back, and his sweater did little to cut the chill. Desmond scanned the surrounding rooftops with slightly narrowed eyes and Shaun wondered what he was seeing. After what felt like a small eternity, they heard a click behind them and one of the double doors opened to reveal Rebecca.

“About bloody time!” Shaun grumbled, immediately brushing past her to get out of the cold.

“Sorry,” Rebecca said, shutting the door behind Desmond and re-locking it. "The guy at the desk asked how we'd found the place and when we said we were just exploring the country, he had _a ton_ of places we needed to see and he just went on and on.”

Shaun had only been half-listening to this explanation, his attention caught by the bed in the room. The singular, albeit quite large bed that Lucy currently stood beside, looking just a tad bit guilty.

“Hold on, now, where's the other bed?” he demanded.

“Um, yeah, about that,” Rebecca said as she walked around them to stand by Lucy. She, too, looked slightly sheepish. “There's only one.”

“ _What_?”

“Look, it was the only room they had,” Lucy began in a familiar, no-nonsense voice. “We didn't want to argue since we said it was just the two of us so this is what we got.” When she caught Shaun giving the floor a considering look, she sighed. “Come on, Shaun. It's not that bad. We're all adults here, right?” But even as she said it, her gaze slid to the bed and he could see her blush. After a moment, she cleared her throat and forced a smile into place. “I'm exhausted and we need to get an early start tomorrow, so let's not argue about this, all right?” Grabbing her duffel bag, she headed for the bathroom.

“Fine,” Shaun huffed, “but I am _not_ sleeping in the middle.”

Rebecca mouthed “Sorry!” at him as she picked up her own bag and slipped in after Lucy.

The bed at least looked like the ultimate in comfort. The headboard was a massive dark mahogany slab that rose nearly to shoulder height and had a simple swirling pattern carved into it. Pillows—both decorative and functional—were heaped onto the comforter, which looked to be stuffed with the fluffiest down Shaun had ever seen. It was like something out of a home decorating magazine; Shaun only hoped it would be large enough to fit them all.  


While they waited for the girls to finish changing, he took off his glasses in order to rub at his eyes, suddenly exhausted from the stress of their near-escape from Abstergo and the climb up to the room. As he slipped the frames back on and the room came into focus, he saw Desmond sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over to untie his shoes. He seemed relatively unperturbed by the situation and when Shaun said as much, he shrugged.

“After I left the Farm, I didn't have a lot of choice in where I slept those first few years. I'm used to much weirder situations,” he explained. Despite his words, when Lucy and Rebecca came out of the bathroom wearing little more than tanktops and pajama shorts, Shaun noted with some satisfaction that Lucy wasn't the only one blushing. Feeling his own face warm, he snatched up his bag and stalked to the bathroom, shutting the door in Desmond's face. The girls could change together if they wanted, but he wanted his privacy, especially since he had to piss.

By the time he came out, wearing just a t-shirt and his boxers, the sleeping arrangements had been decided. Since Shaun made the first claim, they decided to put him on the rightmost edge with Desmond beside him. Then it would be Lucy, with Rebecca on the other end, because she claimed she would move around less if she felt the edge of the bed nearby.

The mountain of pillows had been removed and the comforter turned down. Rebecca was seated on her side of the bed, leaning back on her hands with her legs crossed; she looked bored and strangely naked without her ever-present headphones. Lucy sat beside her, also with her legs crossed, but her hands were clasped around her knee somewhat more demurely. Shaun caught himself staring at two sets of surprisingly long, slender legs and resolutely switched his gaze to the floor, arms still folded. He only glanced up when the bathroom door opened and Desmond emerged, also in a t-shirt and boxers. He looked smaller now, more uncertain than before he'd gone into the bathroom. Shaun wondered if it had to do with the hidden blade, which now rested atop the pile of clothes he clutched.

He and Desmond moved to the far side of the bed as the girls slid under the covers. Desmond set his backpack and clothes on the floor, the hidden blade on top, and hesitated a moment before standing. Shaun refrained from asking if he wanted to sleep with it, but he wasn't the only one to notice the assassin's reluctance to part with the weapon.

“Desmond?” Lucy said, sitting up with the blankets pulled up to her hips. Rebecca peered over her shoulder curiously, but he gave them both a reassuring smile as he climbed into the bed.

“I'm fine. I was just thinking about Abstergo suddenly showing up, but if they do, there are other things I can use for a weapon if I can't get to the blade.”

Shaun wondered exactly what that meant, in a room with hardly any furniture aside from the bed and a small table, but decided not to pursue that line of thought. He was tired and still a little annoyed by the situation, especially as he watched Desmond inch gingerly closer to Lucy, leaving Shaun hardly any room for himself. He held back another exasperated sigh as he removed his glasses, setting them on the night table.

“If I wake up to find you spooning me, Desmond, no amount of assassin reflexes will save you,” he muttered, and switched off the light before climbing into bed.

It was certainly larger than any of theirs had been at the warehouse, but four people was pushing its limits. Although no one said it, they likely were all thinking that there would be more room if one or more of them turned onto their sides. Shaun stubbornly lay on his back, all-too-aware of his shoulder pressed against Desmond's, but unable to move away since his other shoulder hung slightly off the edge of the mattress. He was at least grateful there had been enough pillows piled on the bed for them each to have their own, even if those, too, were crammed together.

As he lay there, thinking it a wonder the room wasn't lit by the combined force of their blushing, Shaun became convinced he would never be able to sleep. He was especially certain of this after one of the girls—Rebecca, he thought drowsily—began to snore lightly. He didn't listen to it long, though, before falling into a dreamless sleep.

***

It was still dark out when Desmond awoke, briefly tensing and listening for any sounds. He was growing used to this, both sleeping lightly and the immediate wariness upon waking. Once his senses were satisfied there were no threats in the room, and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he realized things had changed from when everyone first lay down. The blanket was pushed halfway down the bed but there was no need to worry about getting cold.

Rebecca was curled up against Lucy, her head resting on the other woman's chest. It was difficult to tell but judging by the lumps in the covers, Desmond thought she might have a leg curled up against Lucy as well. At some point during the night, he had rolled onto his side towards Lucy and had one hand resting on her stomach, covered by her own. The warmth at his back was undoubtedly Shaun. Despite his threat, the other man was nestled up against him, an arm slung over his waist and his breath tickling the back of Desmond's neck.

The three were so soundly asleep, Desmond wondered if they would be any help at all if Abstergo burst in. Then again, it wasn't as if any of them were dressed for combat. That mental image made him smile as he laid his head back down, despite the seriousness of such a possibility. It was easy to feel safe here in the dark, surrounded by warmth and the comforting blue glow he could see even with his eyes closed, if he switched to his second-sight. He let out a content sigh as he relaxed further into the mattress and the tangled embrace of his teammates, feeling sleep creep closer once more. He just hoped Shaun woke up first and extracted himself without making too much noise. If the girls saw them like this, he had a feeling there would be no end to the teasing.


End file.
